Opening Up A UK Office – How And Where To Find The Best UK Lawyers?

How And Where To Find The Best UK Lawyers When Setting Up An Office

Starting a new business is both an exciting and daunting process. Creating the right legal framework to protect your business interests from the outset is crucial and business needs then change according to each stage of your business development cycle.

So how do you find the right lawyer for you if you are opening a UK office?

Well firstly you will want to choose a lawyer who has the legal know-how and professional experience within a specific area of expertise. Your business will want specialist legal advice, where the correct person is chosen for a particular job, and where the advice given is relevant to its industry sector.

If you are starting business in the UK then you will probably need direction on the type of legal entity that you will be trading under. You will also benefit from advice on the type of documentation that your business needs. This will include areas like business leases, trading agreements, standard form contracts, intellectual property rights/assignments, employment contracts, HR documentation, internal policies and procedures, business controls, taxation and regulatory restrictions. It is always best to clearly define and particularise your agreements in writing to avoid any future difficulties.

Commercial awareness is also a must. Your business needs a lawyer who can identify issues, evaluate alternative strategies and understand what is moving markets and driving business decisions. An appreciation of both the fine detail and the “bigger” picture places commercial lawyers in a stronger position to negotiate advantageous deals and deliver practical and cost-effective advice.

Getting on with your lawyers is crucial and so establishing a personal rapport is key.

Location: check out where they are based since some legal work can be done via email and correspondence but it is preferable to be relatively near to your lawyer for face-to-face meetings.

Costs are always the white elephant in the room! It is important to get a proper price estimate from a solicitor before deciding whether or not to use them.

Choose advisors who understand that effective pricing requires understanding your client, understanding your competition, and understanding your costs. Only use a solicitor who is prepared to work on a budget with you and clearly detail in writing what the charges are likely to be.

Choose lawyers who adopt a modern approach. Modern lawyers are overhauling their client service protocols and using technology to optimise client interaction. This, in turn, improves their operational efficiency, productivity and their ability to proactively manage risk. And this added value goes straight back to benefit the client.

Legal comparison soaks up time and resources. You may consider retaining external advisors who can help you manage the process. They will have experience of how to source the right lawyers, compare both price and value and take out the time consuming elements of the wider process.

Article written by Rachel Furniss.

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“I don’t want to spend an arm and a leg to get this done.”– Luke, Founder and CEO of Happy Clouds LTD

Luke is founder and CEO of Happy Clouds LTD, a cloud service provider for companies of all sizes. He started this business by himself but shortly after took on a co-founder, Lucy. Luke and Lucy have been working together for a year but have yet to set up a shareholders’ agreement.

They have been bootstrapping Happy Clouds’ growth and so have spent the bare minimum. A year on, the business is generating revenue and as the client base grows, Luke and Lucy need to ensure that their business foundations and customers contracts are bulletproof.

Luke and Lucy are fast-paced – they don’t have time to spend explaining their business model to lawyers, they want someone who can quickly understand what they want and run with it. They also don’t want to spend an arm and a leg to get this done.

Luke and Lucy come to Linkilaw. After getting their initial terms of business set out, they realise they also will need another 3 to 4 contracts in the next 12 months.

PRO MEMBERSHIP

Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers)

4 contracts

Drafts allowed per contract

3 drafts

Bonus legal advice

Digital only

Priority of service

Over non-members

Speed of contract turnaround

7 working days

Annual business review conference call

Included

£2,500/year or £235/month

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Lance and Larry are passionate about wine and have a background of oenology. Lily is a developer; she built the first platform and collaborated with Liam on business-related matters. They all work in a small office in North London.

After 1.5 years in business, WineToGo features a first selection of 20 UK wine providers and developed its activity in London. However, the business requires funding to expand to the UK (especially Manchester and Birmingham).

Liam and his co-founders are looking towards the future and are happy to get legal advice. They have a focus on investment but also want to explore the possibility of needing future contracts. They plan on having more team members in the near future (business development consultants to prospect wine producers and developers). Liam and his co-founders want to know what to expect and they should have in place for their growing company.

PRO MEMBERSHIP FOR

Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers)

5 contracts

Drafts allowed per contract

4 drafts

Type of communication

Digital + calls + in-person meetings

Priority of service

Over non-members and digital members

Speed of contract turnaround

5 working days

Annual business review conference call

Included

Bonus legal advice

Unlimited

£7,500/year or £650/month

“My businesses are successful and I want legal services in the long term” – Lynn, Founder of ConsciousDressToImpress.com.

Lynn is a serial entrepreneur who has founded 6 businesses and successfully exited 3 of them. Her sixth and last business is a sustainable fashion brand that retails exclusively online on her website, ConsciousDressToImpress.com.

Lynn is currently generating a stable £4 million a year of revenue and makes between £750,000 and £950,000 of net profit yearly. She really loves being able to bring sustainability and awareness to one of the most polluting and wasteful industries on the market, and now wants to stop building businesses to just focus on this one.

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PRO MEMBERSHIP

Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers)

6 contracts

Drafts allowed per contract

3 drafts

Type of communication

Digital + calls

Priority of service

Over non-members and digital members

Speed of contract turnaround

5 working days

Annual business review conference call

Included

Bonus legal advice

30 minutes per contract

£9,000/year or £800/month

“I want a check-up on my contracts and make sure everything is in place.”– Logan, Founder of InvestMap App

Logan created the InvestMap App 5 years ago with one of his long-term colleagues, Lauren. InvestMap is the tool for people who never invested and want to start. Via the app, the consumer learns about how to make wise and long-term beneficial choices; is invited to invest at the right time, and gets updated on the next gold mine.

Logan and Lauren already have a few consultants and their app has been adopted increasingly that it’s now difficult for them to manage their activity with their original team. They now want to implement more structure into InvestMap in order to get more staff and be able to get to the next level.

Logan comes to Linkilaw and expects to review the first contracts that have been drafted when he started his business and get more for his new coming employees. He is very keen on ticking boxes and making sure that InvestMap is secure as it goes on.

It’s been 8 years since Leah created Move.In, selling kits for students moving to another city (including cutlery, first food, sanitary and emergency essentials). Leah started on her own the business but hired 41 employees during these couple of years. She has now 30 employees and operated over the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

With long-term partner contracts who feed her a stable stream of leads, Move.In has established itself as a leader in the market and currently generates over £3 million of yearly revenue. Its growth is also steady (5-10% a month).

Leah is looking for a legal advisor who will take on the role of in-house legal counsel, but without working full-time. She wants to work with someone who knows and understands her business and proposes the most commercially minded decisions. She doesn’t have the budget for full-time legal counsel, but would nevertheless like to have a lawyer she can reach whenever she wants.

Leah was looking for someone who had expertise in both commercial contracts – ensuring she created real win-win situations in her partnerships – and employment – managing employee onboarding documents such as offer letters, employment and option agreements, staff handbook. Leah now works with a dedicated Linkilaw lawyer and is delighted that she is able to work with a senior lawyer at a rate that is significantly under her budget.

PRO MEMBERSHIP

Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers)

9 contracts

Drafts allowed per contract

2 drafts

Type of communication

Digital + calls + meetings

Priority of service

Over non-members and digital members

Speed of contract turnaround

7 working days

Annual business review conference call

Included

Bonus legal advice

1 hour per contract

£12,800/year or £1,200/month

“I want to get legal work sorted with a moderate budget.”– Lara, App developer

Lara is an app developer who created custom mobile applications for startups. She often works from her clients’ offices to get immediate feedback on her work. When she’s not working from a client’s office, she works from a co-working space or from a local cafe. Her accountant recently told her she should create a business entity for tax and liability purposes.

Lara’s business is already taking off, so she has a moderate budget to spend on getting her legal work sorted. She knows she wants to incorporate her business, write her own terms of business to use with clients (instead of just accepting the terms they provide her with), and make sure her new website has the documents it needs, but she’s not confident in her legal knowledge. She wants access to legal advice for all the small questions that pop-up day-to-day.

Lara loves working with Linkilaw because her dedicated legal point of contact, Gillian, is knowledgeable, responsive and friendly. She likes that Gillian knows and understands her business and long-term goals. The legal solutions Lara receives from Linkilaw are not only accurate, but they are also commercially-minded and thoroughly thought through.

Lara is grateful to have been introduced to Linkilaw by a friend and she now recommends the Linkilaw membership to her clients.

PRO MEMBERSHIP

Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers)

3 contracts

Drafts allowed per contract

5 drafts

Type of communication

Digital + calls

Priority of service

Over non-members and digital members

Speed of contract turnaround

7 working days

Annual business review conference call

Included

Bonus legal advice

Unlimited

£4,000/year or £350/month

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